Building in a flood zone, any inexpensive foundations?

tamsam · #21 02/17/08, 12:28 AM

Sorry for the boat post. If it has to be 60ins it must flood a lot there. Have you looked upstream as to what might come floating down stream at you? I'm not being sarcastic but in recent flooding here it was amazing to see what was in the rivers and creeks which turned into raging rivers. One creek had a big log come down and took out a bridge and it wasn't a little driveway bridge it was a state road bridge with 2 lanes of traffic. The force of water itself is tremendous and then add an object of some size to it and if it is fast flowing it could be like a tractor trailer hitting you hose or foundation. If I had to build in a flood zone I would be tempted to put in post from the upstream corners out to a point so that if something did come floating down it might be diverted to the side. Just a thought. I don't know where you are but going to assume Tx. Good luck and people learned here about 2 months or so that if it has ever flooded it will again and this time the water was as high or higher than it had been since 1985. Again good luck with your building. Sam

michiganfarmer · #22 02/17/08, 08:20 AM

$15,000?

do it yourself

quietstar · #23 02/17/08, 09:55 AM

If you are determined to build in a flood plain, Texicans advice seems the best to me. Over the years I've been called on to appraise hundreds of flood damaged structures with assorted foundations and all types will fail. Well set, treated pilings seem to survive best until debris accumulates against them, allowing the power of the water to build up. Make certain your location is flood Plain, not Floodway. Good luck...Glen

Nevada · #24 02/17/08, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quietstar

If you are determined to build in a flood plain, Texicans advice seems the best to me. Over the years I've been called on to appraise hundreds of flood damaged structures with assorted foundations and all types will fail. Well set, treated pilings seem to survive best until debris accumulates against them, allowing the power of the water to build up. Make certain your location is flood Plain, not Floodway. Good luck...Glen

The problems with building in a flood plain don't end with the home. You can count on a flood ruining a septic system, and if you don't have your well casing stick out of the ground above flood level you'll also find yourself drilling a new water well.

VALENT · #25 02/17/08, 11:00 AM

I dont think a lot of people realize the differences possible in a flood plain. Flood plains can include any land that has a single chance of flooding in five hundred years. It can also be a piece of property that has never flooded in five thousand years but then development of adjoining properties now make this tract flood. Flood plains/ flood zones and such can be very broad terms. I have seen firsthand areas with no restrictions get flooded. I have seen a whole lot of land in a "flood plain" within a mile with no flooding at all. There are so many considerations in every endeavor.

Tsadiyq · #26 02/18/08, 08:45 PM

That is interesting! I don't mean to highjack this thread...but I am curious now...

Hmm - how do I find out what area has flooding zone? Also how do I find out which area is a zone 1, zone 2, zone 3 or whatever so I can find out where we are moving to has a short or long growing season?

EDDIE BUCK · #27 02/19/08, 07:24 AM

Call the counties planning dept for the flood zone. Heres the website for the hardiness zone. [url]http://www.usda.gov/hardzone/ushmap.html[url]

Nevada · #28 02/19/08, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsadiyq

That is interesting! I don't mean to highjack this thread...but I am curious now...

Hmm - how do I find out what area has flooding zone? Also how do I find out which area is a zone 1, zone 2, zone 3 or whatever so I can find out where we are moving to has a short or long growing season?

FEMA maintains a free online flood zone map service so property owners can estimate their flood insurance costs, which happen to be based on flood zone classification.

Search here by state, county, and community.

http://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/store...rType=G&type=1

Search here by street address.

http://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/store...0001&langId=-1

Tsadiyq · #29 02/19/08, 10:15 AM

Oh thank you guys! I'll go and check it out but it appears to be for americans? I am up there in Canada. I hope they have some information for Canada too....

Tsadiyq · #30 02/19/08, 10:19 AM

Hmm - both links doesn't seem to be working?

Tsadiyq · #31 02/19/08, 10:21 AM

Ah - the link for FEMA works but its all for the states :0( But thank you anyways!

If anyone here knows of a good link for Canada - that would be great!

VALENT · #32 02/19/08, 10:24 AM

they worked for me

hunter63 · #33 02/19/08, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDIE BUCK

Call the counties planning dept for the flood zone. Heres the website for the hardiness zone. [url]http://www.usda.gov/hardzone/ushmap.html[url]

This is good advice, and county maps should have flood plains mapped.

I do believe that there is political influence on certain pieces of property, though.
Was looking at a piece of land, realtor gushing over The "river front view".
I ask if it was in a floodplain, and they said no.
I knew it flooded, as I had seen it, so went to the county got a copy of the map, went back and show it to them
They pulled the property off the market. Owner was a one of the largest realtors around?

Nevada · #34 02/19/08, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsadiyq

Hmm - both links doesn't seem to be working?

It's a conspiracy!

Darren · #35 02/19/08, 10:05 PM

You.ve gotten some good advice. I'd like to add that the flood maps and the so-called 100 year flood was a political decision. If you think 60" is going to save you, you're probably going to get a bad surprise at some point. The 100 year flood is a statistical calculation based on previous history. If you know anything about statistics you need a large sample to have a high degree of confidence. In our area we've had three floods within 60 years that were so much higher than a 100 year flood they couldn't be calculated. those were way beyond even a 500 year flood.

the folks I know at the Army corps of Engineers smirk when they hear the term "100 year flood." If you really want to prepare for a worse case scenario, find out what the standard project flood (SPF) is for your area. You'll have to contact someone at the Army Corps of Engineers for that info. FEMA won't have it. Even the army may not have it if there's no dam upstream from you.

As an example, in our area the SPF is twice the 100 year flood height while the 500 year flood is about 2' over the 100 year flood. If you're bound and determined to build in that location buy some 30' marine grade piling (2.4 lb/cf CCA). You might get by with driving 18' into the ground leaving you with 12' to clear the worse case flood.

Tsadiyq · #36 02/20/08, 12:59 AM

Hmm - maybe you are right, it's a conspirary! What should I do???

LoL, Nevda! One of them is working for me now but not the other...